The present invention is directed to a haptic system of rotating cylindrical shafts topped with round caps to create a virtual sensation of Braille text by integrating a microprocessor (also referred to herein as microcomputer or processing unit or microprocessing unit) with motors (also referred to herein as micro motors, micro drives, or drives). Specifically, the present invention is directed to a system whereby coded text data is inputted to a microprocessor that regulates or otherwise instructs mechanical micro drives. The micro drive's shafts are, in aspects, crowned with plastic cylindrical caps the diameter of which is 1.44 mm, the standard diameter of conventional paper embossed Braille. The top face of the caps is disk-shaped and are positioned precisely flush or level with the device's display surface (also referred to herein as an output user interface), thereby emulating the standard diameter and feel of a Braille dot or Braille space in two dimensions. The Braille dots of the present invention are represented as flat discs. Unlike conventional embossed paper Braille or the current designs of refreshable Braille readers, the Braille dot's dimension for height is absent in the present invention. It is, in aspects, the rotation of the drive's shaft that spins the caps and simulates the sensation of a Braille dot that is felt with the fingertips. This sensation of a two dimensional rotating dot is the result of the top face of the capped shafts positioned flush or level with the device's display surface. A drive shaft/cap that is not spinning is at-rest and perceived as a Braille space. The spinning or at-rest caps, six to a cell, translate the coded text files into Braille text that can be read on an output user interface. In one embodiment, six caps are aligned in a two column-three row configuration to resemble a conventional Braille cell. The currently claimed Braille e-reader can display up to 1000 Braille cells or characters (e.g., such as letters, numbers, punctuations, symbols, indicators), or more or less, and is refreshable—that is, it advances the text to the next page(s) of Braille or returns to the previous page(s) on demand by, for example, toggling a navigation button on the device or using a voice command.
The present invention is expected to provide services and features to the blind and visually impaired that are currently available to users of Nooks and Kindle, by way of example. The advantages of Braille text displays (also referred to herein as a e-readers or reader tablets) over audio books for the visually impaired are significant. Braille text provides a user with a “physical” reading experience, an advantage because the individual can re-read and search surrounding words for contextual clues. When reading, a reader progresses at his own pace, and he decides on the pronunciation of character and place names. It is an active, not a passive experience. On the other hand, when listening to audio books, the narrator sets the pace and decides on pronunciations, and the listener hears the characters in the narrator's voice only. When the visually impaired read Braille, the scenes and characters of the narrative are more vibrant than listening to storytelling because the reader more fully engages their imagination to create the story. Reading Braille specifically stimulates both the visual and tactile cortex. When scientists taught sighted people to read Braille, a complex tactile task, they found that the activity activated the visual cortex as well as the tactile one. Most importantly, Braille books give the blind a greater opportunity for meditation and thinking while they read.
Currently, the price of Braille e-readers range from $3,500 to $15,000, depending on the number of characters displayed and the functionality of the device. This is a prohibitively expensive price structure for the visually impaired consumer group that largely is unemployed and is dependent on financial aid. Current technology used to build refreshable Braille displays is still dependent on the old model of creating a three dimensional haptic sensation for the user by employing electronic or pneumatic methods to raise and lower small plastic pins on a grid matrix, forming Braille characters. The method proposed herein is two dimensional, less complex in design, and more affordable. A fully operating device based on this technology is expected to cost as much as a medium priced smart phone. While refreshable Braille displays are already available, the current technologies are limited to the amount of text they can display, typically a single line of text. The current device will allow users to read entire pages of text. The bulkiness of bound paper Braille books, which often consist of several volumes to convert a single book of conventional typeface, makes it a challenge to carry them. This is especially a problem for educational textbooks when conventional text is translated to Braille. Buying published Braille “books” often takes many months to complete the transaction.
The invention described herein provides for refreshable Braille displays possible of being programmed and manufactured more efficiently and for much less money than currently available Braille e-readers, allowing for such technology to be more vastly disseminated to the visually-impaired community. Most refreshable Braille displays use piezoelectric actuation mechanisms to move the pins that generate dot displays denoting each character. The piezoelectric actuation mechanism cells require continuously applied voltage to move the pins up and down. The microdrives in the proposed device on draw voltage when they are turning.